Waller’s Slipper options deepen

Chris Waller’s Golden Slipper hand improved on Saturday when the beautifully bred Campione D’italia won her way into the race, courtesy of a narrow victory in the Group 2 Skyline Stakes at Randwick.

The Snitzel colt touched off the desperately unlucky stablemate Central Europe, himself a blueblood colt by Frankel out of the G1 heroine Tiggy Wiggy.

Sent off at $50, having finished last on debut in the Listed Lonhro Plate, Campione D’italia is now exempt from the ballot for the G1 Golden Slipper Stakes at Rosehill on March 21.

Waller said Campione D’italia has always shown promise.

“In his first start and again here today, we haven’t backed off when he did a lot wrong. We stuck to our guns, went back to the trials. Good team of track riders at home, just been working on getting him to relax. He’s a kind horse, but he’s just so competitive. So when those barriers open, he wants to get to the bend first and we’ve got to teach him to get to the winning post first. We’re getting there.,” he said.

Bred by Gerry Harvey, Campione D’italia is from the winning Medaglia D’Oro mare Medaglia Valore and is closely related to the Group 3 scorer Espionage. The colt’s second dam is the Group 2 victress and six-time winner Military Rose.

Campione D’italia realised $500,000 at last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, with China Horse Club/Newgate Bloodstock & Partners buying him from the Baramul Stud draft.

Central Europe banked $56,000 for second and will need more prizemoney or to win one of the remaining ballot-exempt races to make the Slipper field.

“He was awesome. He did a few little things wrong, and that’s the negative about running in these big races first-up. Their little problems get highlighted, exaggerated. He was a bit fresh the first 200 or 300 metres of the race. He was trying to shoulder Campione D’italia out and he wouldn’t budge. There was a little bit of argy-bargy there, but it didn’t knock him off his game, and gee, he was strong late,” Waller said.

“He’ll run on the Pago Pago in two weeks’ time, and he’ll go to the Golden Slipper or the Sires’ Produce.”

Waller also had Fireball contest the Skyline; he finished sixth, less than a length and a half behind the winner. The champion trainer has Fireball, Campione D’italia and Hidrix in the Slipper at this stage.